Road safety experts say drivers who text are more than six times more likely to be in a crash and
those talking on their phones are twice as likely to be involved in an accident.

Drivers who talk on their phones are twice as likely to be involved in an accident. Picture: AAP (AAP)

Official figures from police show that driver distraction infringement notices have actually gone
down in the past few years but they say that’s because people are becoming better at hiding their mobile phones
rather than using the devices less.

It’s also a big concern now that people are checking social media while driving.

“It’s not just about texting anymore. We have hit an era where people live via their phones and the
devices cause many different distractions," researcher Dr Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios, from CARRS-Q, told The Courier-Mail.

New research has found that drivers are more concerned with “fear of missing out” rather than the fear of dying.

"Keeping people off the devices is increasingly more difficult. Queenslanders have actually become
very proficient at hiding their illegal phone movements from police. It is disappointing that the message about
mobile distraction has not got through."

The Centre for Accident Research and Safety is calling on the Queensland Government for a more
aggressive advertising campaign targeting drivers, similar to what we’ve seen in the past with drink-driving.

They are also calling on new laws to be introduced for people to completely lose their licence if
they are caught on their mobile phone.